“But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7).
This passage represents the second time Paul the Apostle has addressed the subject of spiritual fables in this letter to Timothy. For instance, 1 Timothy 1:3-4 earlier identified two examples of false doctrine: myths (or fables) and endless genealogies. In this context, a “myth” or “fable” refers to a legendary account or fabricated religious story. We could also expand this definition to include Biblical interpretations that have little or no basis in the text or context of a given passage.
As mentioned earlier, we can illustrate this idea for modern-day readers with the legendary claim that Jesus once traveled to India as a child and later taught what He learned as a result of that journey. Another fable involves the claim that Jesus fashioned birds out of clay when He was a boy and brought them to life. These mythical accounts are Biblically unsupportable and the latter account contradicts the testimony of Scripture. Yet these fables siphon the time and attention of those who would be better served by studying the genuine gospel accounts of Jesus’ life.
This problem likely represented an ongoing issue for the early church. For example, the Apostle Paul addressed this topic in another of his Pastoral epistles…
“…you must be severe when you rebuke those who have followed this false teaching, so that they will come to be sound in their trust and no longer pay attention to Judaistic myths or to the commands of people who reject the truth” (Titus 1:13-14 CJB).
The unfortunate reality is that many continue to invest countless hours in the study of “Godless legends” (GNB), “irreverent, silly myths” (ESV), and/or “myths fit only for the godless and gullible” (NET). While an awareness of such things may have limited value (as in the reference to the mythical events from Jesus’ youth cited above), they do little to promote true godliness as we read in here in 1 Timothy 4:7. Instead, that time would be far better spent if we prayerfully read, studied, internalized, and applied God’s Word.
So this verse reminds us of the need to familiarize ourselves with Scriptures in order to separate true doctrine from false doctrine. One of the very best ways to accomplish this involves taking the time to prayerfully read God’s Word each day. We will be well prepared to distinguish between true and false doctrine if we know what the Bible says and means through our personal interaction with the Scriptures.